Media Engagement
Emma is a sought-after speaker, known for her engaging storytelling, strategic insights, and ability to inspire action.
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Good evening everyone.
I'd like to begin by adding my acknowledgement that we meet on Aboriginal lands that were never ceded and I'd like to pay my deep respects to Aboriginal elders past, present and emerging. I'd also like to acknowledge Aboriginal people who are joining us tonight, particularly Aboriginal people with disability, who carry the multiple burdens of racism, discrimination and exclusion.
It's such an honour to be here — surrounded by people whose determination, creativity, and courage have shaped this country’s understanding of disability rights.
I often think back to the early days of the campaign for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Whatever your view of it today, and I know it’s complicated, there’s no denying the power of that moment in our history.
We didn’t have a single organisation leading the charge; we had a movement. Disabled people, families, advocates, service providers — people from every corner of the sector — came together around a shared vision. It wasn’t perfect, but it was powerful. We spoke with one voice, and government couldn’t ignore us.
The same was true when we demanded a Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation. It took years of persistence, but we never gave up. We came together again, people with disability, allies, and families, saying enough is enough. And we made history.
Those moments remind us what we can achieve when we are united, when we see beyond our own organisations, funding streams, or eligibility categories and fight together for justice.
But here’s the thing. Somewhere along the way, we stopped moving as one.
Our unity fractured, and the cracks are showing. The disability rights movement that once roared with collective purpose now sometimes whispers in competing corners.
Our sector has grown, but it hasn’t yet matured. We’ve professionalised advocacy, but in the process, sometimes traded solidarity for structure. We’ve become experts at consultation, submissions, and social media, but less skilled at building shared power.
And fear, quiet but powerful, is holding us back. Fear of losing funding, of losing influence, of saying the wrong thing, of calling out injustice when it’s too close to home, too often characterised by lateral violence which sees us turning on one another.
But fear is the opposite of leadership. Real leadership is about courage, the kind that costs you something.
We can’t keep letting government define the terms of our existence, deciding who counts as disabled enough to be heard, or what constitutes “reasonable consultation.”
Every time we compete for limited opportunities, or let bureaucracy divide us, we weaken our collective power. Maturity means recognising that progress requires both truth and trust, even when it’s uncomfortable.
We need to stop fighting for individual wins and start rebuilding a shared agenda. That means showing up differently. Not asking for inclusion, but demanding shared leadership, shared ownership, and shared governance within our own organisations and beyond.
We need to say clearly, we don’t just want a seat at the table. We’re here to rebuild the table so it works for everyone, not just those who meet a government definition of disability.
This next wave of our movement must be truly inclusive. It must welcome every disabled person — regardless of eligibility, diagnosis, or label. Because if our movement isn’t inclusive, it isn’t a movement. It’s a membership club.
True inclusion requires us to confront the quiet prejudices within our own culture. The ones that tell us who’s “ready,” who’s “too angry,” or who’s “not strategic enough.”
We sometimes overvalue polish and undervalue truth. We sometimes silence the raw, lived experiences that make us uncomfortable, the ones that reveal how far we still have to go.
We can’t demand allyship from others while failing to practise it ourselves. We need to lead with empathy and accountability, not ego.
We must remember that our strength lies not in uniformity, but in unity; in the ability to disagree with respect and still move forward together.
Throughout my work — in advocacy, in executive leadership, and in systems reform, I’ve seen how lived experience transforms leadership.
It’s not an add-on or a checkbox, it’s the foundation. It brings resilience, creativity, and an understanding of reality that no policy document can capture.
But our systems still don’t know how to value that. They keep trying to fit us into hierarchical, risk-averse structures that reward conformity and punish courage.
That’s why we need to create new models of power, ones that are collective, collaborative, and community-led. Not just influencing systems, but redesigning them.
We can’t keep asking for a slice of a broken pie, we need to bake something new together.
so what about allyship? When I think about allyship, I think about my new, eight-week old puppy, Bingo. He teaches me something every day about trust, humility, and listening.
He approaches the world with what Zen teachers call “beginner’s mind”, open, curious, unafraid to get it wrong.
That’s what we need in this movement, leaders who are willing to listen more than they speak, who stay curious instead of defensive, and who understand that allyship isn’t about leading from the front, it’s about walking alongside.
Imagine what might be possible if we rediscovered that unity. Not just in moments of crisis, but as a way of being.
Imagine a sector where collaboration isn’t a special project, but a daily practice. Where we lift each other up, share knowledge freely, and model the inclusive leadership we’ve always demanded from others.
Imagine governments that no longer ask, “What do disabled people want?” because our leadership is already embedded in every level of decision-making, public, private, and civic.
This is not a fantasy. We’ve done it before — with the NDIS, with the Royal Commission, and we can do it again.
So here’s my challenge to all of us.
Let’s stop waiting for permission. Let’s stop apologising for being ambitious. Let’s act as though we already have the power, because we do.
The future of disability rights in Australia will be written by those brave enough to move past fear, to heal the fractures between us, and to lead together.
Because when we’re united, when we share power, share leadership, and share purpose, we don’t just sit at decision-making tables. We raise the standard of what this country believes is fair, possible, and just for all its people.
Thank you.
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Disabled people are increasingly asked to share plans behind closed doors — then we watch those ideas roll out without us. Real change starts when lived experience is valued as leadership, not as free research.
Read Emma’s essay here.
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The 2025 National Disability summit was held at the Crown Prominade in Melbourne on 18 and 19 September, 2025. Emma delivered the opening address, challenging disabled and nondisabled attendees alike to contribute to keeping our service providers strong, relevant and commercially viable by redefining who leads and how they lead, by standing up for accessibility in all its forms and by appointing disabled leaders at all levels of organisations.
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For many years now, Emma has refused to speak or perform from inaccessible stages. Find out why and join her in this simple yet powerful act of allyship.
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On 5 June, Emma had the privilege of delivering the keynote presentation for ARC Disability Services’ Cairns disability Conference on the theme of “every day greatness”. This article summarises the key takeaways she shared with disability support workers about how together, we can elevate disability support from good to great.
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Emma delivered this speech at her MBA graduation ceremony in Melbourne in 2023.
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19 October, 2024
After an unfortunate encounter with a well-meaning professional, Emma shares her thoughts on assumptions about children of parents with disability.
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This article highlights the importance of blind leadership, particularly in organisations that provide services to blind people.
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This article offers advice on the importance of calling out inappropriate behaviour towards people with disability.
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12 September, 2024
This presentation to the first United Blind Leaders (UBL) webinar in September 2024 highlights the opportunities and challenges of blind leadership and future plans for the movement.
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In this Amnesty International presentation from 2018, Emma explores the theme of inspiring women from a disability perspective.
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27 September, 2023
In this open letter, Emma shares her advice to disability service providers regarding ensuring people with disability have agency over the services provided.
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Emma joins the Disability Disrupters podcast where she talks disability leadership, advocacy, the founding story of United Blind Leaders and more.
https://drnz.co.nz/2025/06/01/s1e11-interview-with-emma-bennison/
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/disability-disrupters/id1760492012?i=1000710662820